A Cruel Punishment for a Simple Misfortune
by MysteriousGirl92
Summary: Peter is very upset and decides to tell Henry and the boys' mother what is bothering him. Takes place after the events of 'Horrid Henry Tidies Up'. Rate and review. :-) No flames, please.


A young boy, with the face of a stone, sat on his bed contemplating the events of the misfortune that occurred in his room. A young boy with blond, curly hair attired in a red sweater over his white long-sleeved shirt, long grey pants and brown shoes.

A young boy who is mostly on his best behaviour, to the point where his older brother, his polar opposite, saw him as 'a worm'. Whereas other people (especially his parents and teachers) saw him as a perfect child, hence the name 'Perfect Peter'.

Peter sighed heavily to himself. "What is wrong with me?" Peter said to himself. "We got to go to my favourite restaurant, Virtuous Veggie, which used to be Gobble 'n' Go. And the broccoli ice-cream was deee-licious." The boy gleefully smiled to himself thinking about the delicious dessert he had, before going into a sulk once more.

"So why am I so upset?" the golden boy asked. Then he had a sudden thought. "Is it because of the state my room was in that day?" Peter thought back to when he was in his room with a feather duster in hand. It caught something, something that resembled a string of some sort.

At the top of his lungs, he called out to the woman who would always praise him and give him cute names like 'poppet' or 'darling'. Then what happened next was a huge shock to him. He witnessed his room come crashing down as if his house was being shaken by an earthquake.

To his mother's dismay, and Peter's, his room was in such a terrible state that she had _no other choice_ but to take away _all_ his stars and give it to _someone else._ That day was a horrible day for Peter, but a good day for his older brother. "I don't understand how my room turned out like this all of a sudden. I also don't understand why Mum took away all my stars just like that. It's not fair!"

Suddenly, an older boy with messy brown hair rudely opened the door to Peter's room. Wearing a blue and yellow striped shirt and blue pants, he makes his way in, unannounced and uninvited. "Henry," Peter called out, shooting a displeased look at him. "You know you're supposed to knock before you come in."

"Oh, quit your moaning, worm!" Henry retorted, not wanting to hear any lecture from his wormy little brother. Peter slumped his head and sighed. Henry had a look of confusion on his face. "Uhh, isn't the part where you say, "Muuummm, Henry's barging into my room"?" The younger brother was still fixated on his bedroom floor.

"Don't be horrid, Henry." Peter uttered listlessly. "I don't even have the strength to do that." This was a shock to Henry. Normally, Peter would tell his parents what his horrid brother was doing. But this time, it was different. "What's the matter with you, worm?" Henry asked, wanting to know what was bothering him.

"No need to worry about me, Henry." Peter answered. "Just sitting here on my bed." Henry, out of concern, approaches his little brother. "Peter, is everything alright?" "Why do you care? Why don't you just go and watch that disgusting show you like so much?"

Henry flinched at the sight of the blond boy snapping at him. He then decided to calm himself down, rather than leaving his brother to his own thoughts. "No way, worm. I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's up." Peter's gaze is fixed on his little brown shoes. "Come on, Peter. Talk to me." "What would you want me to talk about, Henry?" Peter snapped, rising from his bed with his nose so close to Henry's.

"Shall I talk about the day I _nearly_ lost my chance to go _my_ favourite restaurant? My room was in such a mess that day, and I wouldn't be surprised if _you_ were responsible for this." Henry chuckled, remembering what happened that day. "Well, I had a little help from a friend of mine… wait a minute, _that's_ what's upsetting you so much?" Peter nodded with a look of sorrow on his face.

"Oh… but, hang on. You got to go to Virtuous Veggie in the end, so I lost the competition in a way." "Yes," Peter responded with a booming voice. "But _I_ was the one who got ALL my stars taken away and handed over to _you_ , even though my room, MY ROOM, was tidy for most of the week! That is _another_ thing that bothers me."

Henry looks on, surprised and astounded at Peter's change in attitude. "I know my room was a mess. I know I didn't deserve any stars that day, even though it was you who did this, but I don't understand why I had to give up all my stars instead of being left _with a total of four stars_. Don't you think that's unfair?"

Henry remorsefully looked into Peter's teary eyes accompanied with a face of thunder. "Peter… I'm sorry…" "What you did was horrid, Henry, and you are still horrid… but…" "But?" Henry pressed on. "What Mum did…" "Was _more_ horrid." Henry concluded. Peter nodded before fully yet quietly bursting into tears. Henry couldn't help but bring his brother in for a comforting hug. Wrapping his arms around Peter, Henry gently rubs his little brother's back to soothe him.

"Henry. Henry?" A blonde woman enters the room, as Henry releases his hold on Peter. Seeing the look on her little angel's face, she begins to assume the worst. "What have you done now?" "Why is it always my fault?" Henry argued. "I was just looking out for Peter, in fact, Peter has something he wants to say."

Hopeless Helen shot a look of concern at Peter, who is looking very nervous. "I'll leave you two to it, shall I?" Henry announced as he walked out of the room. Henry then turned to his little brother and gave him a nod of encouragement. With Helen and her well-behaved son alone together, she was the first to break the ice.

"So, Henry tells me you have something to tell me?" Peter's mother asked. "Yes," her son answered. "I do have something to say. I know you're not going to like it, but I am going to say it anyway." Helen nodded understandingly while bracing herself for whatever it is Peter has to say.

"Mum, I don't like what you did on the day you discovered my room was a mess. I know I messed up and I am sorry for what you saw that day, but was it really necessary to take away all my stars and give them to Henry? Why didn't you just leave me with four stars instead of no stars?" Helen's mouth slightly opens upon realising her actions.

"The goal was to get the most stars so that you could go to your favourite restaurant, right?" The mother nods in agreement. "And since I had the most stars, shouldn't I have chosen a restaurant to go? What I'm saying is that when you saw the mess in my room, it's like you have completely forgotten that I had put so much time and so much effort into making my room as tidy as possible."

"My room has been tidy a lot longer than Henry's room has, four days to be precise, so what was the point of taking all my stars away? Not only does it make no sense, it was just… downright horrid. And Henry was upset that his favourite restaurant had a change in appearance. I know I got to go to Virtuous Veggie in the end, but I could not and cannot shake the feeling that you just decided to punish me severely because of a simple misfortune."

Helen, seeing the error of her ways, lifted her hands to her lips. She couldn't believe how horrible she had behaved that day. "So, that's all I have to say. If you're angry with me for what I said, I understand." Helen breathed deeply in consideration of what Peter, her perfect son, had just said to her. She slowly walked towards him, startling the boy. "M-mum?"

She went down to his level, resting her hands on his shoulders. "Peter, I _am_ upset about what you just said to me, and how you said those words to me. However, it isn't you I am upset with, it is myself." Peter couldn't believe his ears. Surely he expected to be scolded for being so… horrid. "You don't think I was being horrid, Mum?"

"No," she answered, gently shaking her head. "Those words were very harsh, but they were honest. I am so sorry for what I put you through that day. It's probably because I expect too much from you, especially since you are always on your best behaviour. How could I have been so horrid? If there is anything I can do to make it up to you…"

"Mum, you don't have to do this. Your apology is enough." Helen shakes her head in disagreement. "No, Peter. An apology simply isn't enough. What can I do to make it up to you?" Peter took a little time to think about his mother's offer to make up for her foolish mistake. "I know it's not my birthday, but could you make me some pancakes? I'll be happy to share my pancakes."

"That won't be necessary, Peter. And yes, I will make you some pancakes. In fact, I'll be making pancakes for the whole family." Peter and his mother giggle as they share a warm hug before making their way to the kitchen. "Now how many pancakes would you like?" Helen asked. "I'll have two pancakes, please. Oh, and could you make them look like the fluffy ones?" Helen emits a cute giggle. "Of course, Peter".

 **Well, that's it for my story. I'm sorry it sucks. :/**

 **By the way, I don't know the mother's name, so I ended up calling her Hopeless Helen.**


End file.
